It is common practice for commercial and retail stores to use large shelving units to display the products that are sold. The shelving units often consist of a strong center member or wall that goes along the length of the aisle. The center member can act as a base for connecting many various shelving attachments. The shelving attachments are used to create a flat surface to set products on top of. Further, a hook or rail structure can be used to provide a means for hanging products on display from the center member.
The center member or wall must be adequately supported to prevent the center member from falling into the aisle. This is usually achieved by having a strong base section that provides support to the wall. The center member is also usually supported at the ends of the aisles by a second wall that is perpendicular to the center member. This second wall is often as wide as a longitudinal cross section of the shelving system and provides for additional support to keep the center member from becoming unstable.
In addition to providing needed support to the center member, the second wall is also an ideal space for displaying products. The second wall creates more exposure for a product than would the shelves along the center member because shoppers often walk along the exterior of the aisles prior to choosing an aisle that may contain the product they are looking for. From a marketing standpoint, displaying products on the second wall is ideal because it increases the exposure of the product to the customer.
With regards to animal beds or other similar products, using shelving along the aisle is not ideal. The animal beds are often too large to easily fit on the shelves. While the animal beds may be organized in an aesthetically pleasing fashion when the store opens, after consumers begin to remove the animal beds from the shelves they can become disorganized and hard to view. The current method of displaying animal beds is not ideal because it reduces the consumer's exposure to the animal bed by locating it on shelves within the aisles and it often results in a messy product display as consumers rummage through the various animal bed products.